Sweet Home South Bend

So Wifey and I drove to MIA, and headed to the Centurion Lounge, for some breakfast before the weekend to Canes football. We ate, and watched the planes come and go -- the Lounge has an awesome view of one of the runways, and I never outgrew my boyhood fascination with aircraft, so I watched for quite some time.

On the way to the gate, we met a fellow named Jim, also dressed in orange and green. He was headed to the game, too, as were most of the people on the huge triple 7. At O'Hare, I stopped to ask directions to the taxi stand, and was grabbed by a shuttle driver -- trip Downtown with his company would be half price, with just a few stops. Wifey and I agreed, bought a $50 ticket, and climbed onto the vehicle.  A few more folks came aboard, including a late 60s lady who had NEW YORKER written all over her. She started right away asking and complaining why we hadn't left.

Although she looked like a LI type, she acted like a neurosurgeon late for an emergency surgery -- so obnoxious that it became funny. She kept asking, in her whining way "What's the ETA???" until finally I turned around and told her the shuttle rule was that whoever asked more than once got dropped off LAST.  The driver, though, dropped her first, and as she de-vanned, I turned to the others and said "Boy --I'm gonna miss her." Everyone laughed, and we happily chatted as each one got dropped off.

We arrived at the Drake, the historic great hotel on MM (Miracle Mile).  The 'hood looked safe -- even though Chicago kids are killing themselves at a record pace -- 18 died over last weekend alone. But not in the ritzy areas -- as we walked Michigan Avenue, each corner had 2-3 cops.

We went to the Drake bar, where the famous have partaken, and sat in front of the initials JD and MM carved by The Yankee Clipper.  I had 3 martinis, and we chatted with a Canes couple from Okhahoma, of all places. Our friend Rob joined us, and we cabbed to Geno's, where we had two huge tables.

We drank more, and laughed, and watched the Cubs lose. The pizza was mediocre. Mike ordered a tequila shot for Wifey, but an already inebriated Darriel leaned in to observe what would have been a historic event, and knocked the glass over, onto Wifey. So the shot got done TO her...

Next early am, we walked to the Raffaelo Hotel, where Eric and his crew were staying, and boarded a bus to South Bend. Wifey slept, from the effects of the non consumed tequila, and I caught up with Norman and his boy Benji, and Norman's good friend/client Maria.  We got to South Bend early, and enjoyed several hours walking the campus, hearing the famous bagpipers, and taking silly photos in front of the Knute Rockne statue. It was a warm and glorious Midwestern Fall day.

From there, we went to the Alumni Association BBQ, and had our pre game meal, and watched Canes propaganda, including the comically accented new president of the U, who did a great Chico Escuela impersonation as he tried to rile up the 1000 alumni there.


Then we walked into the stadium. The team forgot to -- we were down 20-0, and it looked like a long afternoon. But then the young troops rallied -- and made it a nailbiter -- before we lost as time expired. Still, we yelled and screamed and had a great time.


We met with Norman and Benji for the ride back to Chicago. They planned to get a late Italian meal, and we said we'd go, but then nearly fell asleep. We begged off, and then shared a sandwich back at the Drake, as the Cubs lost again. I think I brought bad team luck to Chicago...


Sunday, we Ubered to Rosemont, near O'Hare, and met my old friend Jeff and his Chicago native wife Myndee, and their daughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth had just passed her CPA exam, and was to start work the next day. We bored her (and Wifey and Myndee) with tales of our LI childhoods. Jeff has become Mr. Chicago -- loves his Cubs and Blackhawks. He actually unfriended an old high school buddy for making fun of his teams...


They dropped us at the airport, and we had a nice smooth flight home.  Mission accomplished, except for the result of the game.


As for the Cubs, well, they're hanging on. My favorite line about them: every team is entitled to a bad century...


Hopefully the Canes can win two more games and go to a bowl. And then next year...